3000 years old
by ZoeJeren
Summary: Sometimes rangers lives, like Merrick's have ups an downs.


_I don't own power rangers wild force, disney/saban owns them_

_3000 Years old_

_The handsome man walked furiously, still almost everyday he couldn't help it and he would look up. Walking was the only thing he wanted to do for it reminded him of his past life._

_Sometimes he would stand there, looking up while everyone walked around him and moved on with their lives. What if he had gone? What if he had told her that he'd rather be with her than live in this so called world?_

_He couldn't help but think that his life had once revolved around that floating island in the sky, invisible to the naked eye, but in his heart it was in every way visible. _

_She was up there, living eternally, not aging, unlike him who had begun to show signs of aging. Not having left to go with her had unfortunately taken his immortality. Yet, he didn't wan to have that life, he had been locked up way too long that having to spend years up there until someone on Earth needed them sounded like an awful lot of time._

_Still he wondered what life would've been just being with her and not caring about time or anyone else, just living their lives and protecting the only dear thing left from their innocent past to protect._

_One day he hope he would completely forget and live on happily. Right now, since that day she went up about two years ago, he had taken the time to get accustomed to life. _

_Weird enough, but he was a no one. _

_When he had gone to a store not far away from where he was living and they had asked him for all his info, some he was happy to give and other he didn't even know what it was. Then when the store manager had gotten fed up with him, he had called the police, he had been taken in for questioning and then his nightmare had begun._

"_Name?" Asked the police officer._

"_Merrick Baliton."_

"_Date of birth?" "April 20,"_

"_How 'bout the year?"_

"_You wouldn't believe me."_

"_Huh? Look buddy I'm just trying to get your information so we can put it in the system and see if you have any past violations. If you don't have any you won't have to wait as long. So, the year?"_

"_1010 B.C."_

"_Huh?"_

"_That's the year 1010 B.C."_

"_Ok, are you joking around with me, look just give me your age and we'll figure out the year from that?" The officer sounded like he really wanted to help him out but unfortunately Merrick was telling him the truth, and for him it was way too hard to lie._

"_I'm three thousand years old, sir and sorry but that's the truth."_

"_Ok, yeah that's the truth, do you have any relatives we can call? What's your address?"_

"_That I can answer you, I live in Willy's roadhouse, on the side of the road and I have some friends, but unfortunately they're all gone."_

"_When I said the address, I meant the number and street name on your house not a description where you're currently staying."_

"_I'm sorry that's all I know."_

"_Well ok buddy, let's see what we can do."_

_Within a couple of minutes the officer had taken his picture and had taken some prints. After that more than enough officers had come in and asked him the same questions, some were very nice others had him up against the wall threatening him. The first officer who had tried that had of course gone down, but as he noticed that there were more like him he stopped resisting them._

_They had wanted to take some truth out of him, some asked him if he had committed murder, something about an unsolved crime, others asked him if he had robbed anything. To all those questions he had a no. _

_Then after like three days it seemed someone without no uniform had come in and talked to him._

"_Hello, my name is Dr. Laura Stevens, I'm a psychologist at the Turtle Cove Memorial Hospital, I was called down by the police when they presented your case to me."_

"_I'm sorry why would I need a doctor for I'm fine."_

"_Well, Mr. Baliton, it seems to me that due to the police officers here you claim to be thousands of years old."_

"_I am."_

"_You are?"_

"_I've been explaining myself to all these people for days now, I just want to go home, lie down, and sleep."_

"_You're not thinking of death are you?"_

"_What? No, I'm really just tired and I wan to be able to close my eyes and have a nice nap."_

"_Ok, you'll have that once we're done here. Now, I need to ask you a series of questions, what's your name?"_

"_Merrick Baliton, I've already told everyone, I thought you were different."_

"_I am. I want to help you, and by doing this it'll get me closer to the problem."_

"_Ok, hey is there any way I can contact one of my friends."_

"_Oh, you have friends?"_

"_Yeah, and if you met them, they'd agree with me about everything I've said here."_

"_These friends, what are their names?"_

"_Why do you need to know their names for?"_

"_If we want to contact them we need their full names, that is if they can be seen by us."_

"_What? Uhmm, I'm not sure I understand, but there are two who's names I remember like the back of my hand. The first one's name is Cole Evans, I'm not sure where he lives or his number…"_

_The doctor interrupted him here and asked him, "Jungle boy right? Didn't his parents die along with their friend and he was the one who survived."_

"_Yeah, that's him. The other one's named Taylor Earhart, I'm afraid I don't know Alyssa's, Danny's, or Max's last name, so you'll probably have to look for either Taylor or Cole."_

"_Is this Taylor the same Air Force pilot who went missing for like two years, and then came back like nothing?"_

"_Yeah, I guess that would be her."_

"_My, you sure have interesting friends."_

"_Well, are we done here, I'm tired and I really want to rest, can they take me to a bed or something."_

"_Yeah, sure, you know that they take you to a cell though, there are no beds."_

"_Why?"_

"_Why, what?"_

"_Why can't they just take me to a room with a bed?"_

"_Because Merrick, you're in jail, you're not in some hotel, you know that?"_

"_Oh, you mean like I'm in prison."_

"_Yes, you're imprisoned."_

_The doctor took one look at Merrick as she explained the last part to him. Merrick seemed confused, he really didn't know why he was there and he was getting frustrated fast, but all he could do was wait until someone showed up._

_He waited in a cell, but to him it was a prison, where bums and others unlike him waited around to see what happened next. Every once in a while he would get up and walk around and hope that someone would eventually come for him. _

_He went over his head and wondered why he had shown up here, all he wanted was to get a job. He had simply walked into a store and asked the first guy he saw if he could give him a job. The guy quickly said no without no explanation, but Merrick like many times he had done before began doing things around the store, so the man could see how efficient he was and maybe change his mind._

_The man had called some other and told him to get him out of there, but Merrick persisted and then the cops showed up and took him. That had been over four days now and he hadn't gotten no sleep, he had been on constant questioning and then when the y fed him it was horrible food._

"_Merrick Baliton!"_

"_Yes, that's me."_

"_Ok, you're free to go."_

"_Really?"_

"_Yeah someone came for you said they knew you and are taking you home."_

"_Oh finally."_

_It had taken the officers quite long to track either Cole or Taylor apparently, neither lived in Turtle Cove any longer, but fortunately Taylor was in the Silver Hills training station nearby that she came as soon as they told her about the situation._

_Taylor looked around the police precinct and thought about Merrick. In the old days when they had been rangers, she really hadn't really interacted with him much, so it surprised her that he would call her._

"_Taylor Earhart?"_

"_Yes." She said as she turned around to look at a woman a few years older than she._

"_Oh, are you Dr. Stevens? You're the one I talked to over the phone right?"_

"_Yes, is it ok if we talk for a few minutes before I let you see Merrick?"_

"_Yeah, sure"_

_Taylor followed the doctor into a room near the back of the station, she was taken aback when she noticed the woman had taken her to an interrogation room._

"_Are you gonna interrogate me or something?" She said as she took a seat across from the doctor._

"_No, since I don't have an office here, this is the best they could give me."_

"_Oh, I see, where's Merrick?" Taylor looked around the room._

"_I'm sorry, but you do know him then?"_

"_Yeah, why would I have come if I didn't?" "You see Ms.?_

"_Earhart."_

"_Ms, Earhart, Merrick has been questioned and wasn't making any sense. The officers called me down, when he began to talk about his age, where he was from and why he had acted the way he acted in the store."_

"_Oh, he told you all that?"_

"_Yes, but you see you're friend believes that he's from another land, Animaria, I think he said, he said he was about three thousand years old. And well none of that sounds right, I feel he should be admitted to the Psychiatry ward in Turtle Cove Memorial Hospital so we can help him."_

_Taylor's eyes widened, all the time she had gone to live her life, poor Merrick had gone with his, but unfortunately he really hadn't been able to adapt quite right to life in the twenty first century._

"_Ms. Earhart?"_

"_Oh, uhmm, I was thinking, I really can't explain it, but Merrick is telling the truth."_

"_Huh?" The doctor said looking at Taylor, who smiled at her and got up._

"_I'll just take Merrick and I'll talk to him, you won't have to worry about a thing."_

"_But, Ms. Earhart, this is serious, how can you actually say that he is telling the truth."_

"_Listen I know Merrick, he wouldn't lie, its just that in this case, to tell you the truth, the patient is actually right."_

"_I don't understand, you know I can't actually release him."_

"_And why not?"_

"_He needs to be treated and it seems to me like you do to."_

"_No, I don't and I demand you release him or I'll have to take this to higher authorities."_

"_I'm sorry, I can't."_

"_Ok, then Dr. Stevens, I'll be back."_

_Merrick didn't actually know that the first meeting had occurred the same day the doctor had interviewed him too, and now that her was being released, Taylor had come back with General Albright and he had actually attained Merrick's release._

_Merrick didn't know who had come for him, so the moment he saw her he almost ran to hug her, but then he remembered that they had never really interacted much._

"_Merrick." She smiled at him though and went up to him, and awkwardly they hugged._

"_Hi," he said back, "nice to see someone I know."_

"_Sorry, it took me long, but I got you out."_

"_Thanks." He said as she put her arm under his and led him out._

"_You know Merrick, now that you live here, do you think you'd want to fly up there with me and visit the animarium?"_

_In many ways since that fateful day Taylor had saved Merrick. Along with Lightspeed Rescue the government had teamed up to form alias' for ranger who were not earthlings or belonged here, so they could lead normal lives. Taylor had taken the lead to get Merrick another alias, and get him to live as normal as a ranger like him could possibly live. Now, they're relationship had blossomed, even though before they had any words to say to each other, now they got along very well. _

_She was like a sister to him, an older sister introducing him to the world, and getting him accustomed to life. She had helped him apply for a job, had gotten him to take some classes in the local college, and had also let him live with her for as long as he needed to._

"_Fly up there?" He asked._

"_Sure, in my plane I'll get permission and get you up there I'm pretty sure no one would mind."_

"_Sure, I'd love to see it."_

_The day he went with her she asked him to put some special clothes on and sat him down behind her in the cock-pit, she had told him not to unstrap himself and to just look on when she said._

_The many times he had piloted his zords were nothing like this, Taylor was the one in control instead of him and did flips and turned he didn't expect, they flew a couple of minutes in silence._

"_Look, down there, at the lake, that's where the part of the animarium was ripped from."_

_He looked at the lake down below and saw how the shape of it was exactly the same shape the floating animarium was._

"_Now, look ahead, my beautiful eagle, look at her she's beauty."_

_Even though he had maybe hoped to see his zord first he was amazed how even Taylor's eagle zord took his breath away. It was probably that it'd been so long since he'd seen a zord that he almost shed a tear._

"_She's leading to it, we're going to the animarium."_

_The minute Taylor said that the animarium came to view and he looked down at it, it was sure to his heart content. He looked about everywhere and sure enough he could see a lot of the zords, some walking around others, playing here and there, Cole's red lion sat and watched over the others. Then he saw his, they were off to the side just being themselves, like him, lonely, but spirited._

_He wondered where she would be, but then immediately recognized that she was probably sleeping, like she was supposed to be doing after all the zords were the ones looking after her. _

"_I think this is one of the only times we'll ever get to see this, I've been up here with my eagle flying dozens of times, but this is the second time she leads me to the animarium."_

"_Its great. This is so much and it so beautiful."_

_He looked down once again, but then the animarium disappeared and they were now just looking down at puffy whit clouds. Now, he thought, he after having seen it again he knew he could go on living and know that whatever little of his past was left was safe._

"_How about going home?"_

"_Yeah, I'd like that." _


End file.
